Filing Predated The Eviction Of Tenants By Invoking The Ellis Act
On May 8, the owner of Barrington Plaza invoked the Ellis Act and removed all of the apartments in the Barrington Plaza apartment complex from the market. This was done to comply with Los Angeles city regulations regarding fire sprinklers and to install fire sprinkler systems as we reported earlier this week.
The news was made public that a tenant in the building, Sergei Maidaniuk, filed a lawsuit on May 1, 2023, as reported by The Real Deal.com. The lawsuit is for breach of contract/warranty, not fraud or negligence, against Douglass Emmett, Inc., a Maryland Corporation, et al and was filed at the Santa Monica Courthouse. The case is to be heard by Honorable Elaine W. Mande, a judge at the courthouse. According to court records, the first hearing is scheduled for October 30th.
According to The Real Deal, the lawsuit alleges “Simply put, Barrington Plaza was a ticking time bomb and fatally unsafe.” and further makes the accusation that “Douglas Emmett’s permitting and enabling of Airbnb strangers into the Barrington Plaza property for short-term stays give rise to the dangerous potential of a different convicted felon or bad actor next door every night of the week.”
Neither Maidaniuk’s attorney nor Emmitt’s representatives have answered requests for comment on the matter.
